Mar. 10, 2008 – PWC Digest

Miami Offers Early Look at Season

The Miami International Boat Show is arguably the biggest event of the boat show season. While bigger boats always garner the majority of the attention, PWC continue to play a key role at the show, with all major OEMs in attendance.
“The Miami boat show is always an important show for us as it serves as an early barometer for what we should expect for the industry in the coming year,” said Bryan Seti, head of marketing for Yamaha’s Watercraft Group. “This year, we are seeing an influx of higher-end buyers across all the market segments taking advantage of a great opportunity to buy a boat. So we feel the boat manufacturers who will win this year are those that offer a strong, feature-rich product that appeals to the high-end buyer in their market segment while offering a great value. This will continue to bode well this year for Yamaha and our dealers.”
While Sea-Doo reps admit sales were slightly below their target at the show, part of the reason can be traced to the fact that BRP chooses not to export at the show in order to respect and support their international distributors. (Apparently, roughly 50 deals were turned down in the export-heavy South Florida market.)
“The Miami Boat Show is always different than any other show in the country in that it truly is an ‘international’ show,” Tim McKercher said on behalf of BRP. “The show usually tells the overall attitude of the boating consumer and from this show, people want to get out on the water, but they want to get the most for their money, the best value. The booth was busy, the people were enthusiastic, interested in the product, but were sitting down at the closing table just as fast.”

Stricter Emissions Laws For California?

California Attorney General Jerry Brown petitioned federal regulators in early February to establish even stricter emissions standards for off-road vehicles, including snowmobiles, ATVs and yes, PWC.
Brown is requesting the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to exercise its authority under the Clean Air Act to set new greenhouse gas emission standards for new off-road equipment. Off-road vehicle manufacturers have responded that such legislation would increase prices, reduce performance and possibly hinder industry growth. For more details, log onto ag.ca.gov/newsalerts/release.php?id=1522&.

New Safety Accessory Unveiled for PWC

An Australian manufacturer has unveiled a new PWC accessory: a brake light system.
The Aqualuma Brake Light System, a patented product, alerts other boaters when the PWC operator releases the throttle for at least a half second. Also, when the throttle is released for a period of time, the system automatically goes into a flash mode.
The manufacturer says the low-energy-drawn LED lights can flash for days without running down the vessel’s battery.
For more information, visit the company’s Web site at www.aqualuma.com. psb

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